STORIE DI UOMINI E NON

The epitome of an obscure gem! I love this album. Over the last year I've purchased over 200 RPI CDs, as I've been absolutely enchanted by this stunning genre. Nearly all of them are good, many of them are great, and a few, like this one, just hit me like a ton of bricks. It's not as symphonic as many of the classic bands and yet doesn't venture as far as Area does into Jazz (there is no free form soloing--it's crazy, no doubt, but all within a well-defined and very enjoyable structure).

I love the description on the band bio (and also included in Finnforest's review) regarding the sax and guitar doubling themes. I would add that there is great interplay between sax, guitar, bass, and sometimes flute. Often the doubling changes into harmonizing, sometimes as thirds or just complementary sounds. Many times the themes are taken up by the other instruments, helping the different sections flow nicely, even though there is at times great variation in tempo and feel. Note that there are no keyboards. But the use of the sax is so imaginative that I had to double back and listen to a section of Martino again (about 2.5 minutes in) because I swear there was mellotron. But no--it's saxophone! I actually love the use of the sax and flute here--they provide great coloring and depth. The moods can sometimes vary within songs, especially Io Robot. The mood also varies between songs (the energetic L'Ultima Spiaggia, then the more atmospheric Il Soldato, then the fiery E). The sparse vocals are good and certainly don't detract from the fabulous music.

I refer you to Finnforest's excellent review for historical notes about the band and his always enjoyable comments. My own take is that this album is one of the best of the RPI subgenre, and the RPI subgenre is essential to a prog library. Hence the 5 star rating. You can't go wrong with this one!